<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Gloom by BastardPrince</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26150512">Gloom</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BastardPrince/pseuds/BastardPrince'>BastardPrince</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gansey Week 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gansey Week 2020, Gen, Guilty Pleasures, Introspection</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:55:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>416</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26150512</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BastardPrince/pseuds/BastardPrince</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Resurrected by a dead Welsh king as a child, only to be told he won’t make it past adolescence. He is truly alone.</p><p>---</p><p>Gansey lets himself feel sad.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gansey Week 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894678</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Gansey Week 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Gloom</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <b>Prompt: Aglionby / lonely / as you walk away</b>
</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gansey is alone at Monmouth. Ronan left more than an hour ago to drop Adam off at St. Agnes and since he hasn’t returned by now, he’ll probably spend the night there. Noah hasn’t been having many good days recently so it’s unlikely that he’s lurking in his room, and Blue is busy helping Calla and Maura with some project. It’s just as well. Gansey has been feeling stretched thin these past few days, so some time alone might do him good. </p><p>He’s painfully aware of his privilege, so he tries not to burden the others with his issues. They all have their own problems; they don’t need his too. But the thought of his inevitable death weighs heavily on his shoulders. Every day, time marches on, bringing it closer and closer. </p><p>It’s doubtful that anyone else has ever been in his position. Resurrected by a dead Welsh king as a child, only to be told he won’t make it past adolescence. He is truly alone. </p><p>Tonight, he intends to do what he always does when he’s feeling particularly melancholy and no one else is around.</p><p>He takes a hot shower and stays under the stream of water for way longer than necessary, not thinking about what Blue would say about him wasting water. He absentmindedly traces shapes in the steam on the glass door of the shower and watches as they slowly disappear back into the condensation. </p><p>When the hot water runs out, Gansey gets out of the shower and changes into his favourite sweatpants and softest, most worn t-shirt. He rummages through the kitchen cabinets and grabs half-empty pack of Oreos and a jar of smooth peanut butter. </p><p>Gansey brings everything back to his bed and settles himself under the covers. He sets his glasses on the nightstand and reaches for his phone. Shoving his earbuds into his ears, he queues up his playlist of sad music. The music is an indulgence he rarely allows himself because he doesn’t like to wallow in self-pity, but tonight is an exception. </p><p>He lies in bed eating Oreos, dipping them directly in the jar of peanut butter first. Ronan won’t mind. </p><p>Thinking about his life so far, Gansey suddenly feels very, very young. He thinks about the life he won’t get to live. Before he goes too far down that road, Gansey turns up the music to drown out his thoughts. </p><p>Outside, the sun slowly drops below the horizon, leaving Monmouth dark except for the streetlight outside.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>